BY BUSH AND CREEK AND SEA.

Otago Witness, Issue 2663, 29 March 1905, Page 80

BY BUSH AND CREEK AND SEA.

ON THE AKATORE COAST.

By Ebnest D'Estebee.

It is not any wonder that amongst the great multitude of " beauty spots " in this much-favoured colony there should be many .practically unknown that, were they in Jands less noted lor scenic grandeur, would be much prized and much visited. There are choice bits of scenery, with every charm of surrounding that Nature knows bo well how to provide, stored away in these islands amongst the fiords of the west, the mountains and lakes of that land of promise, the great interior of Otago; the superb forests of the Wanganui ; the rich country north of Auckland ; but, beyond the few who may happen to reside in the locality, these places are rarely visited and arre comparatively unknown. I have met, time after time, people born and bred in this city of Dunedin who had actually never visited one-tenth of the charming spots •within easy distance of the town. There were come — I might say very many — who tad never explored the beauties of the Peninsula, with its many delightful glimpses of harbour and "dim, rich city"; they had jiever been at Tomahawk Beach ; andfHhey had never even been on Flagstaff or at the Opoho fish hatcheries. But there are other resorts within easy reach of Dunedin still less known — for instance, the beautiful coast between Taieri Mouth and Tahakopa, in the Catlins Forest. I wish, however, in this article, to refer more especially to a spot .which may be reached in half a day's journey, and where the traveller will find all the quiet peace, the sense of being utterly •iway from the world, that Stewart Island can afford, and that is the Akatore Coast, .with its beautiful Bull Creek, well known to Milton holiday-makers, but not well Itnown to Dunedin people. Milton is, of course, only a short railway journey, and from there, in summertime, it is a comfortable drive to the coast, the way being via Loudon's Gully, or the hill road up froni Fairfax, though the latter is a somewhat 6teep climb for horses, but it is the fehorter route. In the case of a walking tour the hill road should undoubtedly be selected, but, where the traveller is driving, the Loudon's Gully road is very much preferable. Taking either road, then, one. is very soon amongst the easy-rolling hills of 'A-katore district, their long folds slumbei*ing peacefully in the summer sunshine, or, In the cooler eventide, wrapped in rolling Jbillows of mist. In the early morning this Is charming country. Certainly there is no striking grandeur about it, but it has infinite variety, and it opens up many pretty vistas of bush, manuka groves, with their etariy flowers appearing m the distance like light showers of snow, toi-toi reeds, ti-trees, and flax, or long rolling green fields, and, in the sweet autumn time, some areas of rich golden grain. Perhaps there is the musical ripple of flowing water gurgling amongst the flax bushes and_ almost concealed by the vegetation, turning at <n tree

stump with a murmuring song in exquisite quarter-tones, and spreading out in a swamp far down below ; and down the sides of the gully the long reeds sway and bend and nod and quiver, and the graceful toi-toi fronds display their soft beauty to the sun; and the starry manuka shrubs, the long epear blades of the flax, the tiny sprigs of the moss carpet, the dainty little wild flowers, all whisper together of the joy of living, or listen reverently while those messengers of God, the singing birds, chant full- , throated praise in the face of the sun. No two people study Nature in the same man- ; ncr, or see her wonders eye to eye, but s there is an infinitude of beauty in all such ( scenes to the mind of the student who looks ; for the manifestation of the Divine in Nature. 1 - After the highest -ridge is reached the ground gradually falls away towards the coastline, and ifc is then an easy drive to > the seafront. On the way the road passes through the picturesque little settlement of Glenledi, where there is a flaxmill. I met some sandflies there, and I shouldn't wonder if tho deadly mosquito lurked in the vicinity. It was a gloriously calm Sunday ■, morning when I passed through, and the i sun was hot. A few somnolent and speechless " chookies " roosted on a fence in the shade of a willow, two ducks gasped and quacked their way towards the stream, a I dog drowsed with his head against a post | and dreamed he was chasing rabbits, and a. j lonely cat stalked gloomily along the roof of a shed with the air of an antiquarian peering amongst the ruins of Persepolis. I didn't see any other inhabitants. ' Approaching Mrs Leslie's boarding-house at Akatore Coast but little hint of justification for the reputation of Bull Creek appears to the visitor, unless it be that the vata has covered the dark bush lying over towards the left with crimson glory. But a stroll down the path from th& front of the house will open up a beautiful seascape ; there the long rollers are breaking over the worn and fretted rocks in showers of white foam which falls in silver rain ; or, billowing far out in its fathomless profundity, the sea stretches away in calm, serene slumber, sending tiny wavelets to lap the beaches with soft gentle touch, and to glow and glisten in the lights of early morning like falling diamonds and pearls and sapphires. An easy traok to Bull Creek runs into the bush from the road at the rear of the boarding-house, but if the visitor does not mind a good rough scramble, he would do well to go up the paddocks for about half a mile, and there dc.cc.nd the side of the gully to the creekbed, making his way down to the mouth, thus adding the charm of exploration and new pleasure as each successive view is opened up. The creek-bed is at the bottom of a deep gully, and in, some places there I are narrow gorges ; the water is clear and I pure, and there is a good strong stream, while from the edge right up the sides 01 the gully is thick forest growth, in the season ablaze with rata blossom. A few sfcejps down the creek-bed and a veritable fairyland of tall fern trees, graceful crap© ferns, and ferns of all descriptions is entered ; tender festoons of greenery and lons trailing wreaths of m&s& fail away fromj

tree boughs; long rope-like vines ascend and lose themselves in a wealth of glossy leaves above ; the ground is carpeted with mass of every hue, and the golden glint of the sunshine falls through the- green tracery overhead, and there is a glorious play of light and shade amongst the foliage; while Ihe creek waters sparkle and splash and ripple over the 6tones in the shallows, and flow silently along the deep reaches, except for the sudden gurgle and sinister sucking sound of little whirlpools under the fernfringed banks, where the deep water is. Now, take the most accessible route, which is anywhere and everywhere, over rocks and under overhanging crags, amongst tall tree trunks, and through a tanglework of shrubbery, crossing and recrossing the stream either by stepping-stones, by wading across, or by means of some natural bridge in the form of an old moss-covered tree trunk, and follow the water on its course to the bosom of its ocean mother! Every few yards new and beautiful vistas of tangled growth, of tall trees, and of running waters reveal themselves ; the sunbeams stream down amongst the delicate drooping sprays of the rimu, the tender pale green and terra ve-rte of the miro fronds so delightfully contrasted by the purple grey of the bark, through between the wide bunched twigs of the rata and the fringed boug>hs of the dainty kowhai, and almost lose themselves amongst the ferns, tinting here and there a dead leaf into glowing gold and brown colour, or throwing into relief the bright spots of the tiger fern growing so luxuriantly on an old •Eree trunk, or transforming into diamonds Rie little drops of water splashed on to the ferns by the waters. Then, to ascend a little way up either side of the gully, what a charming scene unfolds to the gaze ! Tree after tree, one moss-covered bole after another, is seen in successive height, tier upon tier to the top of the gorge, while be-low them and all around, down to the sparkling creek, is the more delicate succession of greens, merged and blended into one another, yet each in itself distinct, and underneath is the soft bed of fallen leaves. The tui, that whirring and fluttering epitome of life and light, reflecting the sunshine from its plumage in a rich dark blue tint, flashes from one rata head to another, and lifts up its priestly voioe in a full, powerful, rich notej a twitterings " tussocker " chuckles its quaint song amongst the reeds ; a bee wings past with a long swish of busy intelligence, and turns aside from the path of a giant dragon fly, a flashing, living sapphire; and a sandfly comes along with a businesslike hum, and bears down on your left ear with something- of the air of a soft goods " drummer " making for the office of an " oi]t-back " storekeeper ; —funny how one feels reminiscent when, sandflies are mentioned, and I remember once ; but that story must keep for another time, for I haven't got down the creek yet. By-and-bye the gorge narrows somewhat, and from a, shingly beach below the overhanging rock, looking backward, there is a magnificent view of the bush stretching away back in fold after fold ; and the water tumbles and splashes over a little cataract prettily set in a fern glade, with a widespreading calm reach below, overshadowed by tha hrsuu&ak o f one tremendous tree,.

and the while clouds sail overhead in great ir.ass«s tinged with silver, and a hawk reels and floats away far up in the blue atmosphere. As the tidal area is reached the bed of the creek changes and opens out on to a large sand bed between rooky walls, and the wat&r flows over glistening white sand ripples except where the current has scored deeper, and there the pebbles glisten and the minnow has its home. The forest growth is now left behind, and "Rata Lodge" and other camping huis are passed, a sudden turn, and then appears the mighty sea. The creek waters slip down with a glad murmur as of a child returning to its fond mother's arms after a long and wearying errand well performed. Great long grey masses of water-worn rock lie piled up there in inextricable confusion ; in the hollows are clear, translucent pools left by the retreating tide and swarming with myriads of •tiny creatures — little oceans inhabited by hosts of self-propagating organisms, infinitely minute and all busy in the great problem of living, — and long trailing masses of sea tangle lie inert at the base of the rocks awaiting the incoming tide to spread them out in swaying green and brown lines. Amongst tho pebbles are pink, white, and purple sea anemones jvith fringed coronete, transparent organisms and annelides spreading out their dainty discs, and farther out is the restless heaving of the sea and the while steam of surf washing the hoary faces of the old, old rocks. How pleasant it is to sit out on those rocky seats on a summer's afternoon, and what old memories the murmur of the sfea recalls ; sad ones sometimes "that seem to find expression in Tennyson's beautiful lines: And the stately ships go on, To their haven under the hill ; But O for the touch of a vanished hand, And the sound of a voice that is still ! Break, break, break, At tbe foot of thy crags, O Sea! But the tender graca of a day that is dead

WiJl never come back to me. Perhaps thsre is the memory of loved ones parted with long years ago in a far-off land, some scene in a stately home where a fair and noble gathering- assembled to say goodbye, and there may be the hallowed recollection of the break in the sweet, pure voice of an angel on earth as she sang those inimitable words of " Crossing the Bar" ; perhaps there is the memory of the long strviggle, the strenuous fight on a field of blood, the forced march out across the rim of sand in some great thirst land under the staring Eastern sun, the memory of how brave men faced and met death, and then how relief came and the hordes of silent savage foes melted into the desert; perhaps there is the mental picture of sunny coral strands, where- the cool palm fronds rustled in the scented breeze, a shadowy vision of home and loved ones now taking their eternal slesp, or the scene where some well-loved comrade was buried at sea. And then the scene is changed, and across the mental vision flashes a memory of Eastern splendour, of the gorgeous opulent colour and bright joyous laughter of tropical lands, washed by the same old sea, pictures of sunny bays where dark skinned peoples roam the shores, of that strange brooding East, with its dust of empires, and of the heart of mighty Asia and the " roof of the world." Or, one may remember again the day 3of a happy youth when hearts beat high with hope and love, and when the joj-s of yachting and of hunting ■were the acme of existence ; there was that never-to-be-forgotten race when the Ormond boat beat the Christ's College crew, and Carlton walked over the University in the double sculls ; there was that long chase after an " old man " kangaroo, that encounter with a hive of protesting and vicious bees in the old red gum, or that stealthy tracking of tiger in the jungles. How each tumbling wave of the ocean seems fraught with memory for the traveller, the same old, old Sea, full of energy and restless life, "boundless, endless, and sublime."

And then to stroll out to those rocks in the calm glory of the afterglow when the crimson and amber lights streaming up from the west world's gold are reflected on th.3 bosom of the waters, when the rata blossoms flame amongst the dark greenery like fires kindled by spirits of the forest, when the tide sobs and mourns amongst the sounding caves, and thei-e come weird, strange sounds from that great strong bosom out beyond, up from the fathomless depths, which conceal their secrets so well ! There is a deep calm on the atmosphere ; even the ocean seems quietened by the mystery of the hour; not any living thing moves, and the hush is only broken by the long ceaseless roll of the surf on the rocks and that, indeed, only seems to make th>& stillness more profound. It is as if the voice of some celestial Muezzin had sounded, "Allah ho Ackbar; Allah il Allah!" and the world had bowed its head in silent prayer. Now the crimson fades to shell pink and the amber lights flutter and die down to a pearl grey, in the steel blue of the eastern heavens appear the heralds of the watchers of the nighfc, and soon that sky will blaze with the splendour of the myriad millions of other worlds. Fast pales the glow in the glooming west, Deep shadows and evening ' star, The gull sleeps well in her lonely nest, And night creeps up irom the bar.